Cutting boards for use in cutting various types of foodstuffs are well known, as are several types of knives to be used in combination with such boards. A preferred type of knife for such use is one with a sturdy blade and characteristically referred to as a xe2x80x9cChef""s Knifexe2x80x9d.
Variations on the theme of the combination of cutting board and knife are also known, as are levered apparatus useful in cutting different types of food. The following patents disclose different forms of levered cutting devices:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,873,294 (pizza)
U.S. Pat. No. 5,245,902 (vegetables)
U.S. Pat. No. 4,137,807 (fruits and vegetables)
These devices all have in common that their cutting mechanisms are attached to their respective workpiece holders and pivot about an attached, fixed pivot point.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,094,221, issued Jun. 13, 1978, discloses a cutting board attachment for use with an ordinary kitchen knife. The attachment comprises a support member in the shape of an L-shaped plate, with one leg of the xe2x80x9cLxe2x80x9d being disposed vertically of a cutting board and the other leg of the xe2x80x9cLxe2x80x9d attached to the cutting block. In the vertical leg of the plate are vertical slots, depicted at different elevations, and other similar openings in the plate, the upper edges of which act as fulcrums for receiving the tip of the blade of the kitchen knife so that the cutting blade can be used as a lever, pivotable downwardly. The attachment of the ""221 patent is said to facilitate the ease with which a conventional knife may be use for cutting frozen foods and the like (""221, Abstract).
Apparatus is provided for cutting items, especially foodstuffs. The apparatus includes a cutting board having an opening therein which passes through the cutting board and is located in adjacent proximity to one edge of the cutting board. Through this opening is inserted a fulcrum supporting member having a vertically oriented, fulcrum-housing stem and a flanged base. The stem is removably inserted through the opening in the cutting board and extends vertically through and upwardly therefrom, and is removably secured thereat to the cutting board by the flanged base. The vertical stem member houses a plurality of fulcrums therein positioned at spaced apart intervals proceeding vertically upwardly from the cutting board. The apparatus further includes a knife having a blade and a handle, which blade has, proximate its tip or point end, means for removably engaging one of the fulcrums.
When an item to be cut is placed on the cutting board adjacent the vertical stem, and the knife blade engages a convenient one of the fulcrums, cutting of the item is enhanced and facilitated through the lever action of the knife blade and its engaged fulcrum.
The fulcrums preferably are horizontally oriented pins for engaging the knife blade, positioned at discrete vertical intervals proceeding upwardly from the cutting board, and three fulcrums is most preferred. The means for engaging the fulcrums may be a notch formed in the upper edge of the knife blade proximate the tip of the blade. The board may be made from wood or plastic or other suitable material and the supporting member is made from metal, e.g., aluminum or, most preferably, stainless steel.
All components of the apparatus are preferably dishwasher safe through many repeated cycles of automatic dishwashing.